Notes / Commercial Description:
Flagraiser IPA is a big, hoppy tribute to the unfurling of the Grand Union flag atop Prospect Hill in Somerville, MA on January 1, 1776. This ale celebrates our passion for hop aroma and flavor balanced with just the right amount of malt.

Huge aroma and resin-y flavors from the elusive Galaxy hops are the signature of this beer. Built on a solid base of pale malts, this double IPA makes generous use of hops from Columbus, Crystal and Galaxy with the Galaxy hops taking the lead during ten days of aggressive dry-hopping.

Pours a clear rust/copper color with a finger of airy white foam that rises and sticks around for a while. The lacing is excellent as you can clearly see where the head started and came to a rest with each successive sip.

Great nose on this one. Nice citrus notes, orange and grapefruit stand out. There is a bit of caramel malt but it's really all about the hops here. This one is really fresh with nice, juicy hop aromas.

The taste follows closely with the nose. Great citrus notes. Orange and grapefruit again, along with some more tropical-like fruits. The caramel malt is a bit more present here, providing a slight sweetness for the hop to play off of. There is a touch of pine that brings a bitterness to the drying finish.

The body is on the lighter side of medium with ample carbonation. The combination gives the beer a thinner mouthfeel than expected for a beer this big but it doesn't really detract from it.

Overall this is a really good beer. Excellent hop aromas and flavors with just enough malt to keep it from being over the top. Sneaky 7.5% ABV. There is no detection of any alcohol at any point during drinking the beer but I took notice towards the end. The bottle I had was clearly very fresh, which is a benefit of being local. Hopefully fresh bottles show up regularly.

22oz bottle purchased as a single from Yankee Spirits, Sturbridge, MA.

Poured into an imperial pint, formed a 1/2" beige head over the cloudy coppery amber brew. Fluffy head recedes gradually, with sticky lasting lace. Aroma is citrus and pine.

Taste is sweet to start, citrus in the middle, pine to the close, with ample bitterness lingering long after the swallow. Mouthfeel is smooth, and drinkability is good as well. Seems maybe a bit over the top on the hops for me, but that's what IPA is nowadays.

Large four-finger off-white head. Lots of stringy lace on the glass. The head lasts a long time with a rocky settling. The liquid is hazy with an orange-amber color.

Very pleasant blend of paler malts with a good dollop of grapefruit zest-like hops. Fragrant but not floral.

Starts with a very brief malt flavor, but the hop practically explodes as the liquid hits the back of my tongue. The bitterness completely overwhelms this beer. On subsequent sips, the malt never really comes back. Borderline extreme. This would be an excellent counterpoint to spicy food. The body is what I would expect. Flavor wise, this is close to a DIPA.

Appearance- Copper hue that has a 1.5 finger of head. A nice clearness to the brew and lacing down my glass.

Smell- This is the first thing I noticed, the second I poured the beer out I could smell the hops and I was a good arms length away. It smells of mainly hops with a hint of pine at the end. Almost a perfect nose for me, except it seems like something is missing, I just can't put my finger on it.

Taste- I had this when it was too cold and was wondering if this was just an overly bitter IPA. It turned out that it needed some time and warmth and turned into a complete different beast. The bitterness fades and the hops and malt work well together. Right away you get the different hops working together and then a malt sweetness followed by a slight bitterness, towards a pineyness flavor. The bitter pineyness quickly leaves the tongue and leaves a dryness on the tongue.

mouthfeel- A clean flavor that washes across the tongue leaving a slight dryness behind. A good amount of carbonation.

overall- The alcohol sneaks up on you as you drink, it is well hidden. A nice simple IPA that doesn't try to make too much of itself. I will definitely be picking this up again.

Nice hoppy IPA that hits you right up front, pulls dry on the tongue, but has floral/caramel notes.

A: cloudy amber; good retention and mild lacing
S: sweet, caramel, lift floral notes
T: malty and hoppy up front, surprisingly together. When they finally come together at the end of a swig, raisin notes are detected.
M: lingering, allowing one to savor their drink (or hate it) longer
O: the lingering mouthfeel fades to a little metallic taste. Maybe just a little sweet. Neither for me is strong enough to override the good mouthfeel and floral notes of this IPA

O: I love resin and I love hops. This beer delivers. It has a few flaws. I feel the beer could be cleaner but it has everything I want in a beer. A very awesome beer and I am glad to see these guys around.

I was impressed with their porter, and I have to get the macro swill taste out of my mouth from a bad beer review I just did.

Pours a nice fizzy head of almost a finger, that fades semi slowly with a nice lacing, over a crystal clear honey orange colored beer.

Nose is pretty nice, lots of fresh hops, light citrus, some nice tropical fruit with hints of grapefruit, pineapple, tangerine, and a hint of musty fresh hop resins. None of those come on strong like Heady Topper, but still present and nice. As it warms a touch of candy hop aroma comes out with slight waft of pine. Under that comes some nice light sweet malts.

Taste brings more hops right out, fresh hops, very slightly resinous and musty, as well as hint of piney hops. Then tropical fruits again, very light pineapple, citrus, tangerine, mango, etc. and a decent bitterness. Again light candy hop flavor starts to shine through, bringing the sweet malts as a base that help to balance out the nice hop bitterness. A light abrasive grainy hop kick and oily flavor round off the overall experience. As it finishes it gets quite bitter and borderline astringent, with only the sweetness from the malts saving it from over bitter astringency. A nice long bitter almost spicy hop character reminds me for scores of minutes after the sip the tasty IPA I'm still drinking.

Pours a very nice cloudy orange color, nice carbonation, with a very nice one-finger creamy off-white head, with some nice sticky lacing left behind. The nose is hoppy, a slight malt note, citrus, and some nice pine notes. The taste is very nice and hoppy, some malts thrown in, very nice touch of citrus and pine notes. Medium body, with a very nice dry/bitter finish. Overall a very nice IPA, really enjoying it. Thanks Bill!

A: This beer pours a crystal clear copper color with a one finger of foamy, sudsy, khaki color head. Head retains nicely, leaving ample lacing on the glass.

S: Nose is citrusy, fruity with an undertone of caramel malt.

T: Taste is fruity in the forefront - mango, light pineapple and tangerine hoppiness. Middle has a nice malt backbone that carries nicely through the beer and balances it out. Finish is a strong grapefruit rind bitterness that is balanced nicely with the malt presence. Light touch of alcohol is detectable but far from boozy.

M: Medium body, medium carbonation, nice slick and oily feel.

O: Goes down easily, very tasty, somewhat filling, decent kick, nice representation of style. This is a damn fine beer from a brewery I just heard of.

This IPA was a beautiful orange with a nice cap of foam--good lacing as it disappeared. Good aromas, heavy on the piney hops, not much malt back there. Flavor was similar, focused on bitterness but without the malt grounding--at first it was slightly off-putting, but as it warmed up a bit the balance seemed to work better. I was savoring it by the end. The only flaw for me was a slightly lighter mouthfeel than what I'd prefer, but overall very tasty--excited to try their other beers.

T - Balanced! Perfect rush of floral hops to the front of the palate finished with chewy, roasted malt in the finish. Again, like a Double IPA. Seems to make sense with the ABV. But it also tastes like a great Pale Ale. It doesn't know what to be.

M - Smooth, malty, and delicious. Alcohol is very faint and enjoyable. This is what I expect from an East Coast IPA...balance. They should be noticeably different from West Coast versions.

For an East-Coast IPA, this beer certainly packs a punch in both hop aromatics and hop flavors. But to back it up with a malt backbone to balance the resinous pine flavors from the Galaxy hops? That's something rare to come by. I've had this both in bottle and tap, but the nose is much more prominent on tap. Satisfies on all ends, I could drink this beer for days.

Overall: I love this beer and I am in love with Galaxy hops. This brewery has only been around 13 weeks and they're kicking ass with this gem. This beer has so many layers to it and I love the slight malt backbone typical of East Coast IPA's.

It's hard for me to review this beer, because I'm not particularly a fan of IPAs; I prefer the more malty side of the beer family. But, as a fan of good beer, I can appreciate a well crafted example of a style, and Flagraiser meets that criteria. The Galaxy hops imported from Australia give the beer a bold, piney flavor, while not overwhelming, as some high IPU beers can do. Fans of the IPA style should seek out this beer.

top notch brew, without assuming to be so. I really enjoy this beer, very happy to see it released. I primarily drink IPAs, with a west coast style bias, and this beer is right up there with my favorites (pliny, sculpin, green flash, flower power...and now flagraiser).

I cannot pretend to have a sophisticated palate or the writing skills to describe the beers I drink but I know when i really,really like one and tonight I found one.
Somerville brewing had a launch party tonight and had their Flagraiser IPA on tap. It was absolutely delicious. the aroma is fruity and enticing. If Belgian lace is indicative of a quality beer, then it had lace. I think it had the perfect combination of malt and hops. I loved it.